Google Nexus 7 has officially been announced

As if you didn’t see this coming, but we guess it’s always nice when it has been made official. In case the image and the title above weren’t obvious enough, Google has officially taken the wraps off their Google Nexus 7 device, which they have confirmed is made by ASUS, the same manufacturer behind other popular Android apps such as the ASUS Transformer Prime. So what can we expect from this bad boy? Well for starters the rumors had some of the specs right, such as its 7″ 1280×800 display and the fact that it will be powered by NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 quad-core processor and will sport a 12-core GPU. It will also come preinstalled with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean on board, Google’s latest iteration of their Android operating system. Apart from that, users can expect to find a front-facing camera, WiFi, Bluetooth and NFC connectivity. Weighing in at 340grams, Google promises 9 hours of video watching and 300 hours of standby time with a fully charged battery. As the rumors have pegged it, it seems that the Google Nexus 7 will not feature 3G connectivity perhaps in a bid to make it a more affordable device.

Reading e-books, magazines and watching videos

Google is also touting the Nexus 7 to be a competent reader device which will feature magazines as well. The latest magazines will be displayed on top and users can swipe the magazines off to get to the next issue, much like how you would on your coffee table. In fact, the magazines have also been designed to be interactive, such as being able to click links within magazines to pull up certain features. Apart from it being a device used for reading, Google is also boasting that the Nexus 7 will be more than capable of playing back videos, which “looks so good on [the] Nexus 7, you can see the hairs on Ron Swanson’s mustache.” Google has also announced that Chrome will be the default browser on the new Nexus 7 tablet, which we’re sure that many Chrome users will be able to appreciate especially since they will be able to sync their history, bookmarks and browsing information with their desktop version of Chrome.

Google Currents app and gaming

Google also introduced the Currents app (available from Google Play or the iTunes App Store). Based on the screenshots, we can’t help but feel that this seems like Google’s answer to a native version of the Flipboard news curator app. News on Currents has been pulled from various sources on the web, but one of its more awesome features is that instead of waiting for a localized version of Currents, Google Translate has been baked directly into the app itself, allowing users to translate it into any of the languages offered, thereby allowing users of different languages to be able to read and enjoy the same content.

Unsurprisingly with the 12-core GPU under the hood, Google is touting the Nexus 7 as a tablet capable of gaming and has showed off a game called Horn which we have to say looks good, and pretty fluid at the same time. They also demoed games like Madfinger’s Dead Trigger, so if you’re a fan of games with great graphics and first-person shooters, then perhaps the Nexus 7 might be a device worth your consideration.

Pricing and availability

So when can you get your hands on the Google Nexus 7? Well once again the rumors had it right and Google has announced that the Nexus 7 will start off being priced at a very affordable $199, thus giving the Amazon Kindle Fire a run for their money. On top of that, Google is also offering Nexus 7 owners $25 credit which they can spend on the Google Play store, and will also come with preloaded entertainment such as the Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon movie and the Bourne Dominion book. If the Nexus 7 is a tablet you wouldn’t mind getting your hands on, it is available for pre-order via play.google.com and is expected to begin shipping mid-July. So, any takers?